Middle class stagnation

C

Cypress

Well-known member
Once upon a time, I got IA'd for having an argument with a con in which my thesis was that the middle class has mostly stagnated since 1980; in effect, since reaganomics was implmented:



Republicans can talk all they want about how the economy grew in recent years, which is documented and true. However, this completely misses the point that for middle class Americans, the growth has been nonexistent. Growth has been for the select few such as Wall Street traders, corporate executives and the richest Americans. For everyone else, purchasing power is in decline. Paychecks have actually declined when inflation is taken into consideration and with high energy prices, that's not going to change overnight.

Workers in the 1970s had much more purchasing power compared to workers today. They also had better benefits such as health care, corporate pension plans not to mention much greater job security.

Today, as was the case 16 years ago, the downturn itself isn’t the main problem. By 1992, as a matter of fact, the economy was already growing again. This year, it’s still possible — if less likely after Tuesday’s dismal retail sales report and another sharp decline in stock prices — that the country will avoid a full-blown recession.

The main problem now is that the good times are no longer good enough to carry the middle class through the bad times. For much of the last 35 years, the incomes of most workers have been growing far more slowly than they once did.

In the current expansion, which started in 2001, the median weekly paycheck of workers has actually fallen 1 percent, once inflation is taken into account, according to the Labor Department.
Click to expand...


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/business/16leonhardt.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin


and americablog.com
 
The strategy against the US is multigenerational. Baby boomers are the last generation to be taken care of by the NWO. They're giving them a modicum of security and an actual retirement, in exchange for selling out the upcoming generations.

Have you seen the Pro social security commercials produced by the AARP which have young people talking all stupid in them?

It's literally a deal with the devil.
 
few things i noticed for the true middle class thats making it difficult to move foward:

1) insurance premiums on the rise for the working man. I witnessed first hand this working for a leading retirement company for many years. Most large companies had a period of double digit % increases year over year.
2) pensions being slashed forcing people to save more of there own money.
3) raises are nominal. Because inflation has been in check companies have been getting away with giving out 3% raises annually... But thats about to change with inflation starting to rear its ugly head.
4) Energy costs are soaring - just 5 years ago gas was $1.50 a gallon. now its over $3. someone that drives 30+miles a day now costs them double for fuel. heating and air conditioning costs are up.
5) Food prices are way up.
6) interest rates on credit is up.

Bottom line is that middle class like usual has back against the wall trying to make ends meet monthly.. WORST POSSIBLE thing right now would be to raise there taxes.
 
Cypress your mentally unstable, dems are not required to be economically illiterate. the middle class house is about double the size it since 1980. We have way more cars , computers and big screens.
Use your freaking brain before you believe every lefttard rant
 
Chapdog said:
few things i noticed for the true middle class thats making it difficult to move foward:

1) insurance premiums on the rise for the working man. I witnessed first hand this working for a leading retirement company for many years. Most large companies had a period of double digit % increases year over year.
2) pensions being slashed forcing people to save more of there own money.
3) raises are nominal. Because inflation has been in check companies have been getting away with giving out 3% raises annually... But thats about to change with inflation starting to rear its ugly head.
4) Energy costs are soaring - just 5 years ago gas was $1.50 a gallon. now its over $3. someone that drives 30+miles a day now costs them double for fuel. heating and air conditioning costs are up.
5) Food prices are way up.
6) interest rates on credit is up.

Bottom line is that middle class like usual has back against the wall trying to make ends meet monthly.. WORST POSSIBLE thing right now would be to raise there taxes.
Click to expand...


They're just lazy welfare recipients with a GED who work at walmart. They deserve to die.
 
Topspin said:
Cypress your mentally unstable, dems are not required to be economically illiterate. the middle class house is about double the size it since 1980. We have way more cars , computers and big screens.
Use your freaking brain before you believe every lefttard rant
Click to expand...


The amount and availability of consumer goods is not a sign of a healthy middle class. In may dad's, and grandad's generation, one spouse could work to support the entire family, and a high school graduate could get a good paying blue collar job virtually anywhere in the country: from Toledo, Ohio, to Oakland, California.
 
energy has been below 3% if you go back to the 80's you morons.

those are horseshit far left cooked numbers, the kind the cons want you to use so the dems will lose.
you want to talk struggling stick to the last couple years you have half a case
what's funny is you crybaby's prob make double the median wage.
 
Cypress said:
The amount and availability of consumer goods is not a sign of a healthy middle class. In may dad's, and grandad's generation, one spouse could work to support the entire family, and a high school graduate could get a good paying blue collar job virtually anywhere in the country: from Toledo, Ohio, to Oakland, California.
Click to expand...

economics 101.. woman go out in droves to work = soring demand for consumer goods = higher prices (inflation) = requirement for woman to work to pay for higher prices.
 
Topspin said:
energy has been below 3% if you go back to the 80's you morons.

those are horseshit far left cooked numbers, the kind the cons want you to use so the dems will lose.
you want to talk struggling stick to the last couple years you have half a case
what's funny is you crybaby's prob make double the median wage.
Click to expand...

I will translate that:

I dooonut knew my ass frum a hoole in the ground.
 
Toppy - you're so out of touch. Do you even know anyone in the middle class? You definitely don't sound like you do.

Why are you even on this thread? You have already admitted that all you care about is policy that favors the rich, investor class, and have little concern for those beneath it.
 
Chapdog said:
economics 101.. woman go out in droves to work = soring demand for consumer goods = higher prices (inflation) = requirement for woman to work to pay for higher prices.
Click to expand...

Except that inflation hasn't been a problem, and many families have both spouses working just to be able to afford the basic necessities.
 
Don't forget that the middle class was the only class to listen to the zero population growth bullshit, which has also hurt them.

Also, to respond to Cypress-- the reason one person could work and support a family was because women were not in the work force yet.

When women joined the work force, labour became cheaper, and families that could have previously existed off of one income were forced to find two sources of income.
 
Topspin said:
It's not 1940 chap and your granpaw didn't get spa treatments like you do. LOL
Click to expand...

which of these hypothetical candidates is going to resonate with voters more?


Candidate A: Working americans are doing great, and we need more NAFTA-style free trade agreements!

Candidate B: The middle class is hurting, and we need to revamp our trade policies, and economic policies.
 
USged not comment needed you ditched on school.
Lorax, I have never said anything you posted.
I was raised lower middle class, I care a lot about middle class and that and civil rights is why I switched to dems.
That said, dems don't have to be financial morons. You sexist fucks act as if the only reason woman work is they have to. Millions go to college and millions more want the independence. Just the lilly white wives in your tiny little world fit that catagory and the few poor ones.
 
Topspin said:
USged not comment needed you ditched on school.
Lorax, I have never said anything you posted.
I was raised lower middle class, I care a lot about middle class and that and civil rights is why I switched to dems.
That said, dems don't have to be financial morons. You sexist fucks act as if the only reason woman work is they have to. Millions go to college and millions more want the independence. Just the lilly white wives in your tiny little world fit that catagory and the few poor ones.
Click to expand...


Way to completely shift off topic. It has nothing to do with women wanting to work & be a part of the work force. It has everything to do with both spouses HAVING to work.

Could you be any dumber?
 
Topspin said:
You sexist fucks act as if the only reason woman work is they have to. Millions go to college and millions more want the independence. .
Click to expand...

Regardless of whether women should or should not work (and as equal citizens, they should have the right), it is a FACT that the value of labour decreased as a result of women joining the work force. Basically, the amount of available labour in the country doubled (which, as I am sure Topspin would know from his extensive economics experience, made labour half as valuable.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top